


The Sleeping Knight

by Aliendel



Category: Bleach
Genre: Dreams and Nightmares, M/M, Post-Canon, Some Fairy Tale Elements, UraIchi Week 2019, hints of PTSD, no beta we die like men
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-05-21
Updated: 2019-05-21
Packaged: 2020-03-09 06:16:58
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 760
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18911242
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Aliendel/pseuds/Aliendel
Summary: The exhausted Knight sleeps while his Guardian watches over him.UraIchi Week 2019 - Day 2: Established Relationship





	The Sleeping Knight

**Author's Note:**

> Last year around September, I found all the wonderful works done for UraIchi Week 2018. This year, I decided to participate. Here is my entry for Day 2: Established Relationship, but I had no idea where I was going with this so please be indulgent.

The Knight sleeps

His charges are safe, the enemies slain and the three kingdoms at peace. His work is done.

The Knight sleeps

Mind and body exhausted from a harsh day of training, alone in a too large bed and cold from lack of warmth.

The Knight sleeps

Nightmares haunt him. His ladies sisters gone, his warrior-friends dead and his fair-haired lover’s lifeless eyes.

The Knight sleeps

His voice betrays his despair-filled dreams. A single tear escapes him.

The Knight sleeps  
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Urahara Kisuke leaves his research and starts running at the sound of his lover’s terrified moans. He arrives on time to catch the lone tear slipping down the powerful man’s cheek.

He hums softly, gently carding his fingers through orange locks until the protector’s rest is once again peaceful.

 

As he looks at the man sleeping in his bed, his eyes shimmer with guilt. He had a large hand in molding the then teenager. He pushed and probed, lied and manipulated, taught and supported until the three worlds had a powerful knight to defend them. Until he had a weapon to aim at his nemesis.

A shield function is to receive blows, a sword is to cut. Even now that Aizen is gone his creation still stands ready to slay any who would disturb the three worlds’ peace, to sacrifice mind, body and soul in their protection. It’s what he was created to do, he can’t stop. No matter that Kisuke now wants him to rest, to think of himself first.

How can he ever stop feeling guilty? How can he ever forgive himself? How can he ever make it up to the incredible and selfless sleeping knight?

 

As he looks at the man sleeping in his bed, his eyes shine with pride. He might have laid the path, but somehow along the way, the orange haired man took control of it and made it his own. He traveled further on that path than the older shinigami could have ever imagined.

He had wanted a weapon, a blade and a shield for the worlds, but the man became so much more. He became a knight, a protector that inspired strength and loyalty to those around him. One that not only saved and protected the worlds but also changed them for the better while Kisuke watched in awe.

He is one whose heart has been touched by the amazing man. And so he keeps training, researching, bettering himself in a hopeless dream to one day be worthy of standing next to the knight.

 

As he looks on the man sleeping in his bed, his eyes dim in concern. Years after the last war that shook the worlds, the man is still haunted by horrible memories, dreams filled with real and imagined tragedies. Unable to relax, caught in the horrors that were and those that will come.

It renders Kisuke near powerless, a state that he hates with fervor. His only recourses are whispered words of reassurance and soft touches. The man is grateful, but alone, Kisuke almost shakes in anger directed at his useless self. Still, he comes running at the first hint of panic, of a nightmare. He always offers what meager comfort he can.

For as many hours as it takes. For as many nights as it will be necessary.

 

As he looks at the sleeping man in his bed, his eyes soften with love, the emotion overshadowing all others. The man is his whole world, his well-being is his utmost priority.

Leaning over the man to lovingly kiss his temple, Kisuke lays next to his lover and uses his arms to encircle him protectively. Before he finally closes his eyes, beautiful orange locks the last thing he will see this day, he once again recites a vow to himself.

His everything belongs to Kurosaki Ichigo. His hands and mind will create the tools to achieve the man’s dreams. His blade will cut down his enemies in the shadows before they can threaten him in the light. He will guard his back, the people that make up his heart and his sleep with all the considerable strength he possesses. If Kurosaki Ichigo is determined to be everyone’s knight, then he will be the guardian that watches over the protector.

“This,” he whispers solemnly, Benihime echoing his words, “I swear on my very life and soul.”  
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The Knight and his Guardian sleep

Their charges are safe, the enemies slain and the three kingdoms at peace. Their work is done.

… At least for a time, at least until they wake.

**Author's Note:**

> I hope you enjoyed it :)
> 
> (I'm still working on Day 1: Time Travel, should be able to post it soon.)


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